1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to test sockets adapted to hold and establish electrical contact with electronic components for testing, and more particularly to a test socket for a leadless chip which is housed in a carrier.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various carrier devices for leadless integrated circuit chips have been developed to hold the chip during manufacturing operations. One such leadless chip carrier is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,444,309, issued Apr. 24, 1984 to the present inventor and currently assigned to the assignee of the present invention. However, these carriers are not compatible with available test sockets that are permanently mounted on a printed circuit board. Such test sockets have contact devices that are adapted to establish electrical contact with the contact pads on the surface of the chip, permitting various test sequences in which the chip circuitry is exercised and its performance is monitored via the test socket contacts. With presently available carriers and test sockets, the chip must be first removed from the carrier and inserted into the test socket in a "naked" state, and then removed from the socket after testing and reinserted into a carrier if further processing is desired. This introduces additional steps into the testing cycle with an accompanying increase in cost and reduction in efficiency, and the extra handling of the chip increases the possibility of its being damaged.